I knew that look dear, eyes always seeking
by gaymerkree
Summary: "I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be meeting Ruby here." She takes a quick look around the shop, and upon seeing no trace of the excitable brunette, walks forward to the counter. The blonde man grins and leans against the counter, "You must be Weiss!"


A/N: Part three of my modern AU.

_I knew that look dear  
Eyes always seeking  
Was there in someone  
That dug long ago  
So I will not ask you  
Why you were creeping  
In some sad way I already know_

Like Real People Do - Hozier

Weiss Schnee was _poised._ She was calm, elegant, and good under pressure. She was a proud Schnee woman, with good tastes in food, fashion, and several other things she would gladly list off for you given the time to do so. What she was not, was prepared. She hadn't been prepared to be drunkenly swept off her feet by a beautiful brunette in flannel, and a cute smile. She hadn't been prepared for that, frankly adorable, kicked puppy look the brunette had sported when she mentioned nearly ghosting her. Or when the same very attractive woman had beaten her to the punch when asking for that first date. Like all Schnee women, she prided herself on many things, but she couldn't honestly say she was ready for anything involving Ruby Rose.

Ruby Rose was a whirlwind of high energy and bright smiles. Looking at her made Weiss feel like she was looking at the sun, and her chest would ache in that uncomfortable way that made her want to burrow into the woman's chest and live there. Of all people, the Schnee heir could have come in contact with, she would not have guessed that the tall lanky brunette, with the puppy-dog smile, would be the one to take her breath away. Her heart betrayed her, thumping wildly in her chest, and her breathing would pick up, and the goofball would just smile brighter. _You're going to kill me with that smile, dolt._

And so, Weiss had agreed, (Ruby had nearly jumped into the air cheering wildly,) and today was the day. Ruby had energetically texted her, bright and early at eight o'clock in the morning, _nothing too fancy! _

So Weiss picked out a comfortable blue turtleneck and a pair of tight gray jeans, and set off. They arranged to meet at Ruby's flower shop, and Weiss arrived exactly one minute before the meeting time, (one o'clock in the afternoon.) The previous night Ruby had explained that she didn't need to work that day, but would be there to help her father for a few hours.

Watching the seconds tick away, Weiss walked into the shop at exactly one. She locked eyes with a blonde man behind the counter, he was tall and lean, a similar build to Ruby's with just a little more bulk. His face was round and cheerful, and he grinned brightly at her. "Welcome to Summer's Roses! What can I help you with?" Weiss stalls in the doorway briefly.

"I'm sorry, I'm supposed to be meeting Ruby here." She takes a quick look around the shop, and upon seeing no trace of the excitable brunette, walks forward to the counter.

The blonde man grins and leans against the counter, "You must be Weiss!" She smiles in turn and holds out her hand to shake his.

'Yes, Weiss Schnee, you must be Ruby's father." The handshake is firm and warm, but the man's smile only brightens the longer Weiss is near him. _I guess I know where she gets it._

"TaiYang!" He announces proudly, "You can call me Tai."

A clatter from the back of the shop pulls their attention from each other as Ruby finally makes her appearance, winded and _nervous_. Weiss takes her in, though a little mused, Ruby is looking as cute as ever. The brunette chose a pair of slim fit black jeans, and a black t-shirt, with a red and black flannel unbuttoned over it. It was similar to the outfit she wore the night they had met, but Weiss could see the younger woman had put in extra effort into the outfit today.

"Weiss!" it's nearly a shout, but is reigned in slightly. "Dad!" She looks back and forth between the two, still connected by their handshake. "Well we _gotta_ go! See you later dad!" Ruby half shouts, nearly pulling Weiss off balance, away from her father, and out the door.

"Ruby! That was incredibly-"

"What did he say to you?" Weiss pauses to take a long look at her date. The sun cascades off of Ruby's darker skin beautifully, but in the slight shade of the flower shop's awning she can clearly see the soft flush across Ruby's cheeks.

Smirking, Weiss crosses her arms, "Ruby Rose, are you afraid your father will embarrass you?"

"What did he say to you?" She's looking more nervous the longer Weiss avoids her question, and the silver haired woman scoffs.

"Honestly Ruby, he only introduced himself." Her sigh of relief brought another smile to Weiss' lips. "But we could always go back in and-"

"Nope! We have a date to get to!" Ruby entwines their fingers quickly, and tugs Weiss down the road. "There's this place right down the road I want you to try!" Weiss laughs earnestly, pulling herself in step with the younger woman.

Another thing Weiss was not prepared for, despite being given the warning of '_nothing too fancy!'_ was the greasy Mexican place Ruby dragged her into. All in all, it didn't look too dirty, but the smell of grease was thick in the air, and Weiss could already feel her heart protesting the meal.

Approaching the counter, Ruby excitedly ordered the five beef taco meal, with nachos, and turned to Weiss for her to order. Pausing to look at the menu, she orders three chicken tacos, and a small salad. Their orders are ready before Ruby finishes paying, and they walk outside to the patio tables to eat.

It's a cool spring day, and though the sun shines bright and heavy, there's a cool breeze. Weiss has to admit, despite the heavy scent of grease, the food was pretty good, and her salad was cool and fresh. She eats two of her tacos and the salad, and Ruby finishes what's left, and her entire meal. (The five tacos is already a lot, but the plate of nachos are almost twice the size of Weiss' meal alone.)

She watches in horror as Ruby finishes her final taco, and slurps down the last bit of her beverage. "Where do you fit it all?" Weiss gasps out, staring dumbfounded at the grinning brunette.

"Dad says I have the metabolism of a mouse on speed." The statement is said with a laugh, but she blushes brightly, "So I-uh, eat a lot."

With a sigh, Weiss smiles softly, "Well I had somewhere food related to take you before our movie. Do you still have room?" Ruby laughs like sunlight, and Weiss feels herself drawn into the joy in her eyes.

"Always."

Their next stop is a high end bakery on the west side of town. Ruby gasps as they enter, the sweet smell of pastries and frosting thick in the air. She looks excitedly from Weiss to the glass cases of sweets, and back to her silver haired date before flushing softly.

"A little birdie told me you like sweets," Weiss starts, smiling brightly at Ruby's joy filled expression. "So if you have the room, get whatever you'd like."

To her credit, Ruby doesn't jump directly into the glass case, instead she nearly starts vibrating with happiness while waiting patiently for the portly man behind the counter to finish with his current customer, and smile at her to begin her order.

Listing off the amount of pastries Ruby ordered would be impossible, and Weiss doesn't try to keep up. She waits till Ruby turns to her with her sunlight smile and asks her, "Anything you want Weiss?"

"Just a slice of lemon pound cake please." The man at the counter laughs hardy and low before taking Weiss' card and handing her a table number, and instructing her to take a seat.

They find a seat in the corner of the establishment, a wide four person table, that should be able to fit the enormous amount of sweets Ruby ordered. Ruby stands roughly, grinning and announcing that she'd help the poor baker out. Weiss takes the moment to check her phone for any messages, there are five from Yang, various threats to treat her baby sister with respect and make her happy. One from Blake telling her to ignore the messages from Yang, and two from her sister.

**Winter:** Hello sister dear, I hope to see you soon.

Weiss looks frantically around the shop, aware what this kind of message usually means, and locks eyes with ocean blue from across the store. Winter is smiling, and approaching quickly.

"My dear sister, " Winter smiles devilishly wide before leaning close, "I'm quite aware of how little you like sweets, what could you possibly be doing in this establishment?" Weiss swallows thickly, pointedly not looking towards the counter where Ruby stood collecting her mass of sweets.

"Winter! I'm just here with-"

"Could my little sister be on a date?" Winter shouldn't smirk, and Weiss is very aware of what that smirk meant.

'Winter-"

"Weiss! Who's this?" As fate would have it, Ruby chose that moment to return to the table, with what could only be half of what she ordered. "Oh! Are you Weiss' sister?"

With a sparkling smile Winter turns to the brunette, "I am, Winter Schnee. And you are?" Weiss opens her mouth to respond, but Ruby beats her to it.

"I'm Ruby Rose! I'm Weiss' date!" She's so excited and happy Weiss can't find it in her to be upset. Whatever teasing Winter felt fit to deliver would be worth it for Ruby's smile.

Directing her mischievous smile back to Weiss, Winter hums. "A date you say." Ruby smiles brightly and moves back to the counter to grab the remaining portions of their large order, and Weiss sighs at the look her sister sends her. "She seems very cheerful."

"She's a large number of things, I would love to tell you, not right now." Ruby arrives back, setting the remaining tray on the table with a polite smile before sitting down.

"Ruby right?" The brunette smiles and nods, biting into a particularly sweet looking cupcake. "How many dates have you two been on?"

Sensing the question was directed at her, Ruby swallows quickly, "Technically this is our first official date!" The phrasing makes Weiss' stomach drop, Winter was nothing if not meticulous, and the use of 'official' would prompt questions.

"Official you say?"

"Well we met at a bar, my sister's bar!" Winter passes Weiss a wary glance, no doubt concerned about her drinking habits. "She spent the night at my apartment and-"

"Spent the night?" Winter's gaze is locked on Weiss, who is beat red and starting to sweat.

"I-It's not like that-"

"Weiss slept in my bed, and I took the couch!" Ruby adds, feeling the mood shift, "We had a good night, but it was too late for me to let her go home alone!" Winter looks between the two nervous women, and opens her mouth to respond when Weiss catches sight of something very interesting across the store.

"Why are _you _here, Winter?" Her older sister looks confused for a moment, before an unmistakable flush crosses her cheeks.

"Business meeting." She says curtly, and it's Weiss' turn to smile.

"Would that meeting have anything to do with Councilwoman Hill?" Weiss purrs, and Winter goes rigid next to them, flush darkening.

"Why would you have a meeting in a bakery?" Ruby asks earnestly, tilting her head slightly as she takes another bite of her cupcake.

Behind Winter, the aforementioned Councilwoman has noticed them, and has started the short trek over. Weiss smiles brightly, waiving briefly towards the politician. Winter straightens when the taller woman arrives, placing a tan hand on her shoulder.

"Hey there snowflake, wait long?" She smiles, looking from Winter to Weiss, then Ruby. "If it isn't the little snowflake, how are you Weiss?"

"I'm quite well Robyn, thank you for asking." Weiss smiles at her sister, basking in her rigid stance and flushed cheeks, "I'm actually on a date right now." She gestures to Ruby with a soft flourish, "This is Ruby. Ruby, this is Atlas Councilwoman, Robyn Hill."

Robyn holds out a hand, and Ruby shakes it hardily, "It's nice to meet you Ruby, and it's good to see you again Weiss." Silence settles between the four women before Robyn continues. "Well we have a date to get to as well, right snowflake?" She's grinning, Robyn Hill is many things, but dense is not one of them.

"As if." Winter grumbles, turning to leave, "I will see you soon Weiss."

They see a movie of Ruby's choosing. Something with superheros that Weiss would deny she enjoyed, but truly did. They make it out of the theater, Ruby draped over Weiss' shoulders and the shorter woman smiling brightly. Ruby's excitedly telling Weiss her theories on the next movie, and catching her up on the previous ones, and despite not being interested prior to that evening Weiss agrees to see the next one with the excitable brunette. She feels her chest tighten when she checks the time. It's not too late, but they don't have other plans, and inviting Ruby over could look more suggestive than she would intend it.

"It's getting rather late..." Weiss' heart breaks at the look Ruby gives her, long limbs withdrawing from her shoulders with a soft huff.

"I don't want our date to be over." She pouts, and Weiss flushes at her honesty. "Can't I just come over to your place Weiss? Oh! Like a sleep over! It's only fair!" She grins bouncing on the balls of her feet, and Weiss stutters to reply. "You stayed at my place Weiss! It's my turn! Oh I bet your place is so nice!" She continues with other descriptors of Weiss' home before the silver haired woman gets her attention.

"Ruby, people don't often just have sleep overs after dates-"

"I know that Weiss, I'm not a child." In the moonlight Ruby looks like she's glowing, despite her almost hurt tone Weiss feels her breath catch, "I don't want this night to end, do you?"

"W-well, no, I-"

"Then it's settled! Sleep over time!" She cheers, and Weiss fidgets where she stands. "Weiss," The shorter woman takes a deep breath before looking up into Ruby's eyes. She's gotten significantly closer, hands placed softly on Weiss's biceps. "I don't have to spend the night, and if I do- I can sleep on the couch again,. That is if you have a couch." She's grinning again, and Weiss feels the stress leave her body in steady puffs.

"Of course I have a couch you dolt." She sighs, but smiles back up at Ruby, "You're telling your sister though. And do _not_ tell her where I live."

The conversation goes about as expected, and Weiss finds herself curled up on her couch with Ruby draped over her drooling slightly. They made it home easily enough, and decided since Ruby picked the movie Weiss would get to pick whatever they watched at her place. (Upon entry Ruby had raved about how _proper_ and _put together_ her place was, and most importantly that she liked it.) Weiss decided on a documentary on wolves that Ruby had ended up quite interested in, but fell asleep during the end of.

Weiss takes a moment to think about how different her week had been in comparison to the previous weeks. Though she felt she kept it reigned in, she would admit her drinking had been a growing problem, however this whole week she had been far too distracted by text messages, or phone calls with Ruby to even think about drinking, and most weekends she spent whole evenings drinking till she made her way home. Tonight however, not only had she not had a drink, but she hadn't felt she needed one.

It was possible that her parental troubles were the main cause of her drinking, but maybe she was a little lonely too. With Ruby around she felt like she could just relax, like she wouldn't be judged for anything she said or did, and even if the excitable brunette wasn't sure she'd like something Weiss wanted to enjoy, she would settle herself down to try to enjoy it too.

A soft chime alerts her of an incoming text message, and she works the confounded device out of her pocket, wedged under Ruby's sleeping form. It's a single line of four words from her sister;

**Winter:** How was your date?

She smiles, snapping a quick picture of Ruby draped over her lap snoring lightly before sending it with a response.

**Weiss:** Still going, I suppose.

Without waiting for a response Weiss begins shaking the taller woman softly. "Ruby, hey- let's get to bed."

With a soft grumble Ruby stands, allowing for Weiss to tug her, sleepy and sluggish to the bedroom. Weiss flushes deeply as Ruby pulls off her flannel, revealing her t-shirt to have the sleeves cut off, showing off toned shoulders and lean biceps. She swallows thickly when Ruby pulls off her jeans too, and stands there in boy short underwear and her sleeveless shirt. Weiss moves to leave the room, but ruby stops her, stumbling slightly, voice slurred with sleep.

"Weiss-I'm not kicking you out of your bed-"

"I'm just turning the lights off you dunce," she flushes at her statement, grabbing a t-shirt of her own out of her dresser before exiting the room herself.

She makes her rounds of the apartment, locking all the doors and changing into her selected pajamas before returning to her room. She gasps upon reentry, as Ruby sneaks out from behind her door to wrap strong tan arms around her waist.

"Ruby Rose!" She's laughing as she turns in the taller woman's arms, but finds herself once again lost in silver eyes.

"Do I get a kiss before bed Weiss?" It's spoken so softly that Weiss isn't sure she hears it right at first.

"Y-yes." She's never stuttered so much in her life, but being around Ruby makes it hard to breathe, she's lucky she can speak at all.

With a gentle smile Ruby leans forward, pressing a soft kiss to pale lips. Weiss wraps her arms around Ruby's neck and _sighs_. Ruby hums against her, hugging Weiss a little closer before prodding her tongue at closed lips for access. Weiss releases a soft moan before Ruby lifts her in a single motion, never breaking the kiss. She settles a dazed and distracted Weiss onto the impossibly soft bed and moves to shut off the light.

"Last chance, if you want your bed for yourself-"

"Shut up you dunce, and get in here." Ruby laughs happily, climbing back into the bed and pulling Weiss flush to her chest, making the smaller woman the little spoon. She lays a soft kiss to the back of a pale neck before relaxing into soft sheets and Weiss's calm breaths.

"Goodnight Weiss."

"Goodnight Ruby."


End file.
